Ordnance traveling lock



July 13, 1943. B. P. JOYCE 2,324,213

ORDNANCE TRAVELING LOCK Filed Oct. 10, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 1 Q 12mm Jufly w, 1943. B. P. JOYCE ORDNANCE TRAVELING LOCK Filed Oct. 10, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 13, 1943 ORDNANCE TRAVELENG LOCK Bryan P. Joyce, East Orange, N. 1., assignor to American Armament Corporation, New York, N. Y.. a corporation of Delaware Application October 10, 1940, Serial No. 3650,62 4

(Cl. 894ii) 14 Claims.

The invention relates to ordnance mechanism having means for locking same against elevation and traverse, while traveling.

In the present disclosure, an anti-tank gun mechanism is shown having a bottom carriage, a top carriage pivoted to said bottom carriage on a vertical axis, a cradle trunnioned on a horizontal axis to said top carriage, and a gun mounted on said cradle for recoil and counter-recoil, and one object of the invention is to make novel and advantageous provision whereby a single traveling lock will hold said top carriage against pivotal movement on said vertical axis, said cradle against pivotal movement on said horizontal axis, and said gun against longitudinal movement on said cradle, said lock being applicable, without the necessity, of moving the gun from its battery position.

A further object is the provision of a traveling lock which prohibits gun loading from the time said lock is applied until it is released, providing a safety feature.

A still further object is the provision of a traveling lock which cannot be applied until the breech block of the gun is closed, overcoming any possibility whatever of traveling with said breech block open and thus preventing the entrance of dust and other foreign matter into the breech of the gun.

With the foregoing in view, the invention resides in the novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, description being accomplished by reference to the accompanying drawmgs.

Figure l is a fragmentary side elevation partly 57 in section showing the lock applied in full lines and released in dotted lines.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section substantially on line 22 of Figure 1.

In the drawings above briefly described, It! denotes the bottom carriage to which the trails H are pivoted at l2, and at IS the top carriage is shown, said top carriage being pivoted to the bottom carriage it! on a vertical axis. as indicated at M. A gun cradle i5 is trunnioned to the top carriage l3 by means of trunnions IS on said cradle, and appropriate bearings H on said top carriage. The gun i3 is mounted for longitudinal sliding on the cradle lie, for recoil and counter-recoil, in a manner forming no part of the present invention. It may be here stated, however, that the traveling lock hereinafter described, may be en aged with the gun without the necessity of disconnecting any parts of the recoil mechanism and without the necessity of moving the gun from its battery position.

The breech block mechanism of the gun It is given certain identification characters for reference hereinafter. The breech block is denoted at [9, said block being of the vertically slidable type in the present disclosure. 2i? denotes a vertically swingable arm on a transverse rock shaft 2!, said arm being operatively connected with the breech block 59 to open and close the latter when said rock shaft is turned by hand or automatically.

The traveling lock is shown at 22, said lock, in the present disclosure, consisting of a V-shaped inherently rigid frame, the ends of which are pivoted at 23 to the bottom carriage it], on axes alined transversely of the gun, permitting said traveling lock to swing upwardly from a normal downwardly hanging position dotted in Fig. 1, to an operative position shown in full lines in said view. The center of the lock 22, in the present showing, is formed with a knuckle 24 which is receivable between two knuckles 25 on the rear end of the gun [3, when said lock is swung to its inclined operative position. A pin 26 is insertible through the openings of the knuckles 24 and 25 to connect the lock 22 with the gun It. It is preferable that this pin be provided with a lateral projection 27 on one end and that the knuckles be formed with grooves 28 to receive this projection when the pin is being inserted, necessitating that this pin be turned to a predetermined position before insertion. By then turning the pin from this position, it will be locked against withdrawal from the knuckles. The end of the pin remote from the projection 21 is, by preference, provided with a handle 28 which swings downwardly by gravity after the pin has been inserted, thus turning the pin 26 and moving the projection 27 out of alinement with the grooves 23 through which said projection moves when inserting the pin. I prefer to attach the pin to the traveling lock 22 by means of a chain or the like 29.

The gun-carried knuckles 25 are disposed at opposite sides of the breech block operating arm 29, and whenever the breech block stands open with said arm in lowered position, this arm prevents engagement of the traveling lock 22 with the lugs 25, insuring that the breech block must be closed before said traveling lock can be connected with the gun. Also, as long as the traveling lock is operatively connected with the gun, a portion of its knuckle 24 prohibits downward swinging of the arm 20 and thus prevents opening of the breech block, thus preventing loading of the gun while the traveling lock is in use.

It will be seen from the foregoing that novel and advantageous provision has been made whereby the single traveling lock will hold the top carriage l3 against pivoting about the pivot 14, will hold the cradle l5 against movement upon the trunnions l6, and will hold the gun l8 against longitudinal movement with respect to said cradle. Moreover, the lock may be engaged with the gun without moving the latter from battery position. The lock cannot be connected with the gun unless the breech block is closed, and said breech block cannot be opened as long as said lock is in operative position. Thus, there is no danger of traveling with the breech block open and permitting dust and other foreign matter to enter the breech of the gun, and there is no possibilit of loading the gun after traveling, without first releasing the traveling lock, providing a safety feature.

Excellent results may be obtained from the construction herein disclosed, but it is to be understood that within the scope of the invention as claimed, variations may be made.

I claim:

1. In an ordnance mechanism, a bottom carriage, a top carriage pivoted on a vertical axis to said bottom carriage, a cradle pivoted to said top carriage on a transverse horizontal axis, a gun reciprocably mounted on said cradle, and locking means for rigidly connecting said gun with said bottom carriage without moving said gun from battery position, said locking means comprising one member rigidly secured to the gun, a second member movably mounted on said bottom carriage for movement into operative relation with said one member while the gun occupies battery position on the cradle, and means for rigidly connecting said two members with each other.

2. In an ordnance mechanism, a bottom carriage, a top carriage pivoted on a vertical axis to said bottom carriage, a cradle pivoted to said top carriage on a transverse horizontal axis, a gun reciprocably mounted on said cradle, one inherently rigid locking member rigidly secured to said gun, a second inherently rigid locking member pivoted to said bottom carriage and swingable into operative relation with said one member while the gun occupies battery position on the cradle, and means for securing said locking members to each other.

3. In an. ordnance mechanism, a bottom carriage, a top carriage pivoted on a vertical axis to said bottom carriage, a cradle pivoted to said top carriage on a transverse horizontal axis, a gun reciprocably mounted on said cradle, an inherently rigid locking member pivoted to said bottom carriage on a horizontal axis extending transversely of the gun, said locking member be-- ing of a length to reach said gun when upwardly swung to an inclined position, and means for securing the upper end of said locking member to said gun when said member occupies aid inclined position.

4. In an ordnance mechanism, a bottom carriage, a top carriage pivoted on a vertical axis to said bottom carriage, a cradle pivoted to said top carriage on a transverse horizontal axis, a gun reciprocably mounted on said cradle, an inherently rigid locking member pivoted to said bottom carriage on a horizontal axis extending transversely of the gun, said locking member being of a length to reach said gun when upwardly swu g to an inclined position, said upper end of said locking member and the lower side of said gun being provided with inter-engageable knuckles, and a pin insertible through said knuckles to secure said gun to said locking member.

5. In an ordnance mechanism, the combination of a gun carriage, a gun on said carriage to be locked against idle movement while traveling, normally idle manually operable means carried by said mechanism for use while traveling, said manually operable means including a portion operative to lock said gun against idle movement and a portion operative to prevent gun loading, said portions being connected for simultaneous application and for simultaneous release.

6. In an ordnance mechanism, the combination of a gun carriage, a gun on said carriage to be locked against idle movement while traveling, said gun including a breech block, manually operable means carried by said mechanism for use while traveling, said manually operable means including a portion operative to look said gun against idle movement and a portion operative to prevent breech block operation, said portions being connected for simultaneous application and for simultaneous release.

7. In an ordnance mechanism, the combination of a carriage, a gun on said carriage to be locked against idle movement while traveling, normally idle manually operable means for use while traveling, said manually operable means including a major portion mounted on said carriage and connectible with said gun for locking the latter against idle movement, and a minor portion connected with and controlled by said major portion and operative to prevent gun loading while said major portion is connected with the gun.

8. In an ordnance mechanism, the combination of a carriage, a gun on said carriage to be locked against idle movement while traveling, normally idle manually operable means for use while traveling, said manually operable means including a major portion mounted on said carriage and connectible with said gun for locking the latter against idle movement, and a minor portion carried by said major portion and operative to prevent gun loading, said minor portion being movable to its operative position by the movement of said major portion to its operative position.

9. In an ordnance mechanism, the combination of a gun carriage and a gun on said carriage to be locked against idle movement while traveling, said gun including a breech block, normally idle manually operable means carried by said mechanism for use while traveling, said manually operable means including a major portion mounted on said carriage and connectible with the gun for locking the latter against idle movement, and a minor portion connected with and controlled by said major portion and operative to lock said breech block closed as long as said major portion is connected with the gun.

10. In an ordnance mechanism, the combination of a gun carriage, a gun on said carriage including a movable breech block operating elemcnt, an inherently rigid member to extend from said carriage to said gun, and means for connecting said member with said carriage and gun to lock the latter against idle movement while traveling, said member having a portion to abut said breech block operating element and prevent operation thereof as long as said member remains in operative position.

11. In an ordnance mechanism, the combinaticn of a gun carriage, a gun on said carriage including a movable breech block operating element, an inherently rigid member pivoted to said carriage and swingable into close relation with said gun, said member and gun having interengageable knuckles, and a pin insertible through said knuckles to connect said member with the gun and hold the latter against idle movement when traveling, the knuckles of said gun being located near said breech block operating element in position to cause a portion of the knuckle of said member to hold said element against operation as long as said knuckles remain connected by said pin.

12. In an ordnance mechanism, the combination of a gun carriage, a gun on said carriage, said gun including a breech block and an element which occupies one position when the breech block is open and another position when said breech block is closed; an inherently rigid member movably mounted on said carriage and connectable with said gun to lock the latter against idle movement when traveling, said member and said element being so related that said element bars connection of said member with said gun unless said element occupies its breech-blockclosed position.

13. In an ordnance mechanism, the combination of a bottom carriage, a top carriage pivoted to said bottom carriage on a vertical axis, a gun cradle having trunnions pivoted to said top carriage, a reciprocable gun on said cradle, said gun including a breech block and a breech block operating arm which is downwardly swingable toopen said breech block, an inherently rigid V- shaped member having a knuckle at the juncture of its two arms, means pivotally connecting the ends of said arms to said bottom carriage on a horizontal axis extending transversely under the gun, said V-shaped member being upwardly swingable to an inclined operative position in which a portion of said knuckle underlies and prevents downward swinging of said breech block operating arm, another knuckle on said gun to engage the aforesaid knuckle when said V-shaped member occupies said inclined operative position, and a pin insertible through said knuckles to connect them, whereby breech block opening may be prevented and said gun may be locked against idle movements while traveling.

14. A structure as specified in claim 1, said gun including a breech block and an element movable to one position as the breech block opens and to another position as said breech block closes, said movably mounted member having a portion which bars movement of said element to said one position as long as said movably mounted member remains connected with said rigidly secured member.

BRYAN P. JOYCE. 

